love in a cord of wood

The Winter Wood Arrives

by Mary Oliver

I think
I could have
built a little house
to live in


with the single cord—
half seasoned, half not—
trucked into the
driveway and


tumbled down. But, instead,
friends came
and together we stacked it
for the long, cold days


that are—
maybe the only sure thing in the world—
coming soon.
How to keep warm


is always a problem,
isn't it?
Of course, there's love.
And there's prayer.


I don't belittle them,
and they have warmed me,
but differently,
from the heart outwards.


Imagine
what swirls of frost will cling
to the windows, what white lawns
I will look out on


as I rise from morning prayers,
as I remember love, that leaves yet never leaves,
as I go out into the yard
and bring the wood in


with struggling steps,
with struggling thoughts,
bundle by bundle,
to be burned.